UPDATED 1:55 pm - The Mitchell Fritz experiment appears to be over. The Islanders have placed the 6-8 enforcer on waivers with the intention of sending him to Bridgeport when he clears.

Trent Hunter out with general body soreness, aka general BS. I think Teddy and I were the first to make that one up!

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10:25 am - As they say, injuries lead to opportunities. Are you sitting down? We’ll start with the good stuff and work our way down.

Trevor Smith will make his NHL debut today when the Islanders host the Panthers at 2:05 at the NVMC.

Yann Danis recalled from Bridgeport on an emergency basis. No word from the Islanders who Danis is sitting in for today, although our money is on Rick DiPietro.

Mike Sillinger has been placed on IR. What makes this extra-sad is this time it’s a hip injury.

If Trent Hunter can’t go (a likely scenario), expect Jon Sim in his place. You can probably also count on Sean Bergenheim’s release from the doghouse and Mitch Fritz sitting this one out.

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Who knows what lies ahead for Point Blank beyond this season, but one thing’s for sure: I should have started a trade rumors blog.

And if I had a trade rumors blog, you could be sure it would be loaded with Islanders trade rumors. Why? Because the franchise may be, ya know, struggling, but the intensity of Islanders fans on the information superhighway is extraordinary. All you have to do is look at the Visit numbers on this little jeans-and-laptop operation to understand the ferocity of fans of the Orange and Blue.

If I had a trade rumors blog, I’d drudge up some Islanders crap at least once a week. I’d talk about the Islanders getting Cam Barker plus sweeteners for hipster Mike Comrie. (Can’t believe Snow didn’t push for the other Toews).

Then I’d follow it up with a beaut about the Los Angeles Kings trading Dustin Brown to the Islanders. The Islanders fans who still believed my creative writing would freak and link my story all over the place. The Kings fans might wonder why Dean Lombardi would trade their young captain, but it’s all in good fun!

And for the holiday hat trick, I will pound home the rumor of the Islanders making the best offer to obtain Marian Gaborik. Oh man, the buzz will be off the charts.

Okay, you get my point. Here’s the deal, friends. I spoke yesterday with impeccable front office sources in Uniondale and in Minnesota. The Islanders are not the front-runners to acquire Marian Gaborik.

How do I know this? Because both sources made it blunty clear there hasn’t been a single discussion between Garth Snow and Doug Risebrough about Gaborik since an initial, brief fact-finding chat. The Islanders are not even a little bit interested in Gaborik at his and the Wild’s pricetag, and the world-class sniper’s injury history. The Wild are realistic enough to know the Islanders are not parting with Kyle Okposo, plus, plus. There is no offer from the Islanders. There never was an offer.

Just about everything over there is all fiction, folks. To some, it’s very entertaining stuff. Enjoy it, but I’ll ask one last time: please spare me.

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As the Islanders get ready to face Caber and the Florida Panthers in today’s matinee, and my kids get pumped to see all the Marvel Comics dudes, if there’s any news on goalers, Trent Hunter or any other roster moves, I’ll drop it in this space. Enjoy the game, and have fun and be safe tonight.